Thursday, 7 July 2016

Conservatives and Brexit

This is the third in our series of posts about UK political parties.

Large numbers of Conservatives voted to remain in the EU, and not merely because of the negative impact on our economy of leaving. Among the party's members and supporters there are those who recognise that ideas of sovereignty and nationalism have been hijacked and distorted to serve the agenda of an unpleasant ideology, setting neighbour against neighbour and damaging the UK's interests. Those who are compassionate internationalists must feel increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of their party.

Unfortunately, the candidates vying to lead the Conservatives, whichever side they were on in the referendum, maintain the values of the Leave campaign. It is a strand of politics that plays on people's fears, panders to xenophobia instead of diffusing it, and seems to think negotiation is about acting tough rather than finding common ground. Although they may talk about unity, their politics always divides.

Nonetheless, there are still many rank-and-file Conservatives who want the UK to work together with other countries to solve our common problems, who do not look to scapegoat or set people against each other, and who know individual success does not have to come at the expense of those who are most vulnerable in our society.

The 48 Movement therefore asks Conservatives who share our outward-looking, inclusive values to endorse our eight-point programme for bringing the country together again and healing its divisions. To make sure those who ran the Leave campaign do not now determine the sort of country we become, add your voice - whether from inside or outside the Conservative Party - to the growing support for the alternative vision we are building.